Will Baby Bush beat the Curse of Tecumseh?

General William Henry Harrison fought against the Indian Chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe on 7 Nov 1811. The battle was indecisive but Harrison finally defeated Tecumseh in the Battle of Thames on 5 Oct 1813. Chief Tecumseh was killed in the battle. On the strength of this victory, William Henry Harrison was elected President of the United States.

After his death, Tecumseh passed a spell that became known as "The Curse of Tecumseh". Under this curse, Tecumseh decreed that any man elected President of the United States in a year divisible by 20 would die in office.

Under this curse, seven presidents have died in office. These were William Henry Harrison, who was elected in 1840, Lincoln, who was elected in 1860, Garfield, who was elected in 1880, McKinley, who was elected in 1900, Harding, who was elected in 1920, Roosevelt, who was elected in 1940 and Kennedy, who was elected in 1960.

History students find it useful to remember this, because only one other president has died in office. That was Zachary Taylor, who died in 1850 before Chief Tecumseh had settled on the details of his curse.

The first to break the curse was President Reagan, who was shot, but the bullet missed his heart by a quarter of an inch. Reagan remained technically alive, although brain dead.

Nancy Reagan was well aware of the Curse of Tecumseh. She went to Voodoo Witch Doctors and all kinds of psychics and mystics in an effort to beat the curse. Nobody will ever know whether it was due to her efforts to combat the curse that Reagan survived in office.

Most agree that the curse is now over and that Baby Bush will be safe. In addition, since Bush was not elected but was appointed by the US Supreme Court, the famous Curse of Tecumseh may not apply.

However, there are a few who still wonder. How long do old Indian curses last anyway?

All this is explained in "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson" and at
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=samhsloan&id=I1339